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Wrapping her hands around the neatly folded red hood in her lap, Weiss took a deep breath and forced her eyes open. She was exhausted, between fighting that monster and running through the woods, her body was ready to shut down.

She couldn't, she was too focused on the task at hand and that was making sure that Ruby was okay. It wasn't a betrayal and she knew it, but when Qrow showed up and told them that he had a safe place for them, Ruby panicked.

Weiss had no idea where Qrow came from but he was there in the forest and he told them he was going to take them someplace safe. She'd been relieved more than she ever imagined to see the scruffy old huntsmen—but Ruby, she only saw another person she loved being put in danger. Try as she might, Weiss couldn't get Ruby to calm down—she wanted to run and Weiss was not about to let that happen.

It was a strange moment of silent communication when Weiss made eye contact with Qrow and he nodded at her and she knew what he was going to do.

That's where the feeling of betrayal came—she grabbed Ruby by the hand, looked into her eyes and smiled at her. She distracted her and a moment later the dart stuck into her neck. Weiss had no idea where it came from, but a moment later Ruby collapsed against her, quietly begging her not to do this, to let her go. It broke Weiss' heart to hear Ruby so desperate, but she couldn't let her go. She never would again.

Qrow had picked Ruby up just before her weight dragged she and Weiss to the ground. Before she could even ask where he came from, the lights shone through the trees and the airship landed in a nearby clearing.

It was Winter, who had clearly been in contact with Qrow and they'd come to help them.

Weiss didn't ask how they knew. She didn't even ask Winter to go back to the manor and make sure it was okay. She just followed Qrow because he was carrying Ruby. The ship took off and Winter told her they would be safe—Weiss barely registered it. She was so tired.

Now she found herself in the captain's quarters of the massive airship—her sister's room, with a watchful eye over her partner.

Ruby looked small under the pristine white sheets of the bed. Despite her body's maturity and growth, right now she looked every bit the fifteen-year-old Weiss had first met years ago. It was hard to see Ruby so tormented. The years of running and fighting had worn on her psyche—the constant exhaustion didn't help either.

As she sat in this quiet bedroom, staring down at the girl she once considered a burden more than a friend, Weiss couldn't shake the feelings anymore. Ruby had offered her life to keep Weiss safe. She was willing to die for her, and as furious as that made her—as much as Weiss knew she'd be screaming at Ruby about it somewhere down the line—it woke her up all the same.

She was in love with her dunce of a partner. More so than that, she was beginning to realize that she might have been in love for a while.

The realization wasn't nearly as jarring as she thought it should be. If anything, it was a relief. Weiss didn't know if she'd tell Ruby—the idea of a big confession of feelings seemed fairly pointless in comparison to the things that Ruby had been dealing with. For Weiss, it was merely confirmation that Ruby was important to her; more so than anyone else she'd ever known.

Love was why she was sitting here now. It was why she had no qualms about running away from her home, her father or the way he might react. Ruby mattered more to her than he did and as intimidating as he could be, life without her partner was worse.

This, of course, brought Weiss' mind back to the outburst she'd had—the kiss. She wasn't sure what came over her. All she could think about was that Ruby was trying to leave and Weiss couldn't let her go. It was a desperate move and yet when their lips touched, for at least a moment, it was the best feeling of her life. Ruby was confused—and rightfully so—but she didn't run away. No, she just kept stammering with red cheeks and those beautiful silver eyes trying to figure out what had just happened.

Weiss let out a long breath, she knew she needed to be sleeping because her eyes were burning with tears and she wasn't even sure why. She just wanted to climb into the bed next to Ruby and sleep until the world was safe again.

"They're non lethal, you know?" Winter spoke from the doorway and Weiss looked back to watch her step inside. She was dressed down a bit, her hair untied and her jacket off. It was late and this was her room—she'd been kind to give Ruby the bed. "The darts. Atleasian developed tranquilizers; we use them to take down smaller Grimm for research purposes. They're harmless, just…potent and it was a diluted dose so she's fine. If she's lucky she's dreaming right now." Winter moved gracefully through the room, clearly trying her best to remain as quiet as possible. She crossed to the other side of the bed and leaned against the desk to look at her sister.

Weiss continued to stare at Ruby. "I hope not," she said as she remembered Ruby's confession of constant nightmares.

Winter moved the chair from under the desk and sat down. "Father's going to be furious that his home took so much damage."

Her jaw tightened. "I could care less about Father's home."

"Hey," Winter spoke again. "Look at me." She said gently and Weiss forced her gaze upward. Winter was studying her but her expression was soft and clearly concerned. "What happened?"

Taking a deep breath, Weiss closed her heavy eyes and swallowed sharply. "Ruby was on the street corner when I was out for a drive…I followed her into a bakery and she was—I was so happy to see her but she was a mess. She hadn't slept or eaten in days, she used what little money she had to buy sweets because she's a complete goof who thinks she can sustain herself on cookies.

When she opened her eyes, Winter's lip was curled. She hated cookies.

"So I brought her back to the manor and she had a cut on her stomach." Weiss laid a hand over her own body to where the wound was. "Her aura was gone and it had been for days—which was even more telling to how she'd been living. So I used my aura to heal her."

"That's a very intense process." Winter pointed out and Weiss merely shrugged. She remembered every single feeling and sensation from that moment.

"It worked and then I made her eat and when I told her she was going to be staying in the guest room and getting some much needed rest, she panicked and wanted to run." Weiss returned her watchful eye to Ruby. "I calmed her down and convinced her to stay—my lessons in how to handle Ruby hadn't been lost over all these years." The subtle throbbing of a headache began and Weiss reached up to pinch her nose in order to distract the feeling. The rest of the story felt too intimate to share, even with Winter—of the night she spent with Ruby in her arms. That wasn't meant for anyone else. It was their moment, and Weiss wanted it to stay that way. "I took her out the next day and when we came back that…thing came for us."

"What thing?" Winter pressed and Weiss realized that this conversation was about more than sibling comfort. Not that she minded, Weiss wanted a plan as much as Winter did.

"I don't know, it's…not human, even though it's shaped like one. The armor it wears—Winter I've never seen anything like it. I struck it multiple times with Myrtenaster and nothing could even penetrate the shell. I found a weakness in the heel that bought us enough time to run but there was no way of defeating it."

Winter gave a pensive look. "Are you sure it's not just because you haven't been in a real fight for a while." Weiss sent a glare towards her sister who rolled her eyes. "Relax your ego, little sister. You know what I mean. I understand that you have been training vigorously, but you know as well as I do that no training can compare to actual combat."

Weiss sighed. "No, it's not that. Ruby has been fighting and even her and I together couldn't slow it down. It tore through us like wet tissue paper. Father's guards were slaughtered."

There was a silence between them for a few moments and Weiss knew that Winter was thinking, processing. It was how she had always been, even more so when she joined the military and was educated to strategize.

Sleep nearly took Weiss before her sister spoke again. "What did it want?"

Opening her eyes again, Weiss could only see Ruby. "Her."

"You're certain?"

"It had me and disarmed me, it could have killed me. The second she…" her voice caught in her throat. "She surrendered to it, it dropped me and went for her."

The next time she looked at her sister, Winter was staring at Ruby. "She…gave herself over for you? For your life?"

"Yes." There was a look in Winter's eye that Weiss couldn't fully register. It almost looked like appreciation or perhaps respect. Whatever it was, made her gaze linger on the sleeping girl.

"Well, you're both safe now. We're in the air and we will be for a while. It can't fly, I'd assume?"

Weiss shrugged. "At this point, I wouldn't assume anything."

"Be that as it may," Winter stood up and stepped around the bed again. She pulled a few articles of clothing from her dresser and touched Weiss' shoulder. "It's late and you're hardly functional. Rest, Weiss."

"I can't," she shook her head. "I won't leave her."

"I won't be staying in my room tonight—too much work to do. I'll leave you and your partner be and lock the door for the night." Weiss looked up at Winter who gave her a genuine smile and squeezed her shoulder. "Sleep, and not in that chair. The bed is plenty big enough for two."

Weiss felt herself wilting under the loving gaze of her big sister. She'd forgotten what it meant to be cared for, to be loved. "Thank you."

Winter leaned down and kissed the top of Weiss' head. "Goodnight Snowflake."

When Winter made her exit, Weiss wiped the unshed tears from her eyes, carefully shed her jacket and turned off the light. The bed was warm and inviting and Ruby was letting off a very welcoming heat that Weiss moved herself against. The room was dark, save for the clock on the table that cast a subtle, green splash of light over them—not nearly enough to be distracting but just enough that she could make out the curve of Ruby's jaw.

She searched for Ruby's limp hand under the covers and held it with both hands before closing her eyes. There was no way Ruby would get away from her in the night.

"Weiss," The first stirring from slumber was the soft call of her name.

Before she opened her eyes, Weiss felt a finger dance against her forehead and move her hair back. Her name was called again and when she opened her eyes she was met with a smile.

"Mmm…Ruby?" She slurred as she tried to clear away the blurriness from her vision. "Ruby." Weiss' eyes popped open and she heard her partner chuckle at her sudden burst. "You're awake—how do you feel? I'm so sorry, I know you were scared and I—"

"It's okay, Weiss." Ruby soothed her with a rather intimate thumb stroke across her cheek. Perhaps it was the delirium of having just woken up, but they were so close and Ruby's hands were so warm that Weiss melted under the contact. "I'm okay…sounds like I needed it—I feel good actually. Rested…though my neck is kind of sore."

In an instant, Weiss turned Ruby's head by the chin and examined where the dart had gone in. There was, in fact, a red mark where it had struck her and Weiss glared at the offending blemish. "Ugh, I'll be sure and tell Winter that if she's going to use those tranquilizers on humans then the darts need to be smaller. Why haven't you healed this yet? Surely your aura has returned."

Ruby readjusted her head to look at Weiss again. Her hair was covering part of her face, she had dry lips and more color in her cheeks than Weiss had seen since they met. The darts may have been a bit over aggressive, but they certainly seemed to do her well.

"I'm going to, but I just woke up and I have to pee."

Weiss cringed at Ruby's words as they effectively ruined the moment. "So then go you dunce."

This only made Ruby smile more. "Well I would but—" suddenly Weiss felt a tugging against under the blankets and she realized she had a death grip on Ruby's hand. "You've got me trapped."

"Oh," Weiss said as she again found Ruby's silver gaze. Instead of letting go though, she squeezed a little tighter. "You're not going to try and run again, are you?"

A flash of guilt crossed Ruby's face for a moment before she washed it away with another lazy grin. "Where am I gonna go? We're in the air."

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "Like that's ever stopped you." When Ruby let out a breathy laugh, Weiss felt her stomach flip. She was so in love with this girl. Slowly, she untangled their fingers and drew her hand away. It was sticky from the moisture that had built from the sustained contact throughout the night. Weiss closed her hand into a fist and watched Ruby climb out of bed and look around. "I believe it's the door by the closet." Weiss pointed and Ruby rushed to the small bathroom. When she turned on the light, Ruby hollered.

"Wow! She left her weapon in here!"

"Don't touch it!" Weiss was a heartbeat away from climbing out of bed.

"Don't worry, I won't. Your sister scares me more than you do. It's so cool though, sleek too. I want to ask her about it. How she fits that dagger inside of it" Even as she shut the door enough for privacy, Ruby continued to talk. "That's such a neat idea, I wonder if I could fit a small version of Crescent Rose into Crescent Rose! Not that I'd have to time to do that. I haven't been able to work on her in so long."

"Ruby?" Weiss called and watched in slight horror as she leaned over—still on the toilet—and peeked out the door.

"Yeah?"

Weiss closed her eyes. "Can you…not talk to me while you do that."

"Oh!" Ruby quickly shut the door and Weiss sighed before falling back onto the pillows. She hadn't seen much; just enough to catch once covered bare skin that drew a thousand hardly innocent pictures in her mind. A few moments later, the toilet flushed and Ruby stepped out fully clothed again. "Sorry, I've been using the woods so often to do…that I kinda forgot about privacy."

"Well I certainly hope Jaune gave you proper space!" Weiss said haughtily. Jaune Arc was a decent boy; she'd never deny him that. Still, that didn't mean she trusted him completely.

There was a silence between them as Ruby stood at the end of the bed and looked down at Weiss. Those silver eyes were studying her and Weiss suddenly felt a bit self-conscious underneath such a watchful gaze.

"What?" She finally asked sharply, which caused Ruby to finally look away.

"Nothing, sorry." Ruby moved to the side of the bed where her cloak and Crescent Rose were setting. She reached for her cloak but stopped just before grabbing it. "You kissed me."

Weiss sighed and threw her head back. "Not this again." She mumbled and felt her stomach roll over nervously. "Ruby I told you I just…panicked and was trying to keep you from leaving. It was—"

"Meaningless?" Ruby's voice was meek and when Weiss looked at her again, she seemed upset.

This, of course, upset Weiss even more and suddenly she was crawling across the bed to close the distance between them. "No, Ruby stop thinking like that. It was not meaningless—it was simply inappropriate. I…I accosted you!"

Ruby's lip curled in a slight smile. "That's a bit dramatic."

"Perhaps, but it was still wrong of me to do that without permission."

A few seconds passed and Ruby stared at her cloak, hands gripping the edges—when suddenly she sat it back down. Turning to face Weiss again, they were face to face with Weiss up on her knees on the bed. Ruby cautiously put her hands behind her back and a blush crossed her cheeks. "So that's all it takes? Permission?"

Weiss wasn't where this was going. "Well…yes, I believe an action such as that requires that both parties be on board. Furthermore—"

"Can I kiss you?"

She kept waiting for the sound of her jaw smacking the floor. "You…you want to kiss me?"

Ruby's bit on her bottom lip and Weiss was fairly certain it was the cutest and most attractive thing she'd ever seen. However, the pained look in her eyes was not what Weiss wanted to see.

"I thought—I was ready for it to take me…to kill me." She took a deep breath and looked up with tears in her eyes. Weiss fought to stop herself from tackling her with a hug. "We could die today, Weiss. We could die at any time and I was so close yesterday. I haven't seen my dad or Yang in so long. I might not have gotten the chance to tell them how much I love them. I might never get the chance to pet Blake's cute ears."

Weiss sniffled and rolled her eyes. "I don't think she'd let you pet her at all, she'd probably punch you."

"It'd be worth it," Ruby tried to joke but it fell flat with the sadness in her expression. "I thought about…you…right as it was coming to me and I thought about how you kissed me and how…it was my first."

That was something Weiss hadn't taken into consideration. She'd had a few kisses before, silly rebellions she had against her father at some of his bigger parties. She'd find the child of one of his rich business partners and dance with them, then request a few chaste kisses to act like She was getting something over on him. They never amounted to much, never mattered much.

Then again, no one ever mattered like Ruby did.

"Oh Ruby, I stole your first kiss."

Ruby shook her head quickly, hair bouncing from side to side. "No, you didn't steal it, you just…surprised it—me." She blushed and reached up to push a bang behind her ear. "Either way I just…I thought about it in that moment and how nice it was and how…if you were my first kiss and my last kiss that that would be okay because it was you and you're…you and you really mean a lot to me."

A rush of bravery came over Weiss as she scooted towards the edge of the bed on her knees and drew herself in close to Ruby's solid frame. Reaching out, she placed her hands on the side of Ruby's neck and met her eyes. She flinched slightly at the contact and Weiss remembered Ruby's mark from the dart. Pulling her hand back, she glanced and saw no traces of it—Ruby had healed it. More carefully, she put her hand back in place.

"We're both still here," Weiss said as she flicked her gaze between Ruby's eyes and her lips. They were still dry and slightly rough, but right now they were the only thing she wanted.

There were a thousand questions in Ruby's curious expression. Her brow was furrowed and Weiss could feel her pulse quickening. "Does this mean—what does this mean?"

"Ruby, you're talking too much."

She sighed and nodded. "I know; I can't help it. It's what I do when I'm nervous and right now I'm very nervous. I don't know anything about this…stuff. It's just like when I was learning about Grimm, you should have seen me when I had to give a speech during my first year at Signal about the dos and don'ts of—"

"Ruby," Weiss cut of her off with a glare. "I'm not going to kiss you again without permission but it would be nice if you'd use those lips for something other than driving me insane."

"Right," Ruby tensed up and swallowed sharply before. "I can do this."

Weiss grinned as their faces drew together. "You can."

"Which way do I tilt my head?"

"The opposite of mine." Weiss fought to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

"Makes sense." Ruby's voice was airy, almost a whisper. Weiss could feel the heat emanating from her. "Sorry I'm just nervous."

"Hey," Weiss had to move this along. Ruby flicked her eyes up and their gazes met. From this close, Weiss could see herself in the silver reflection. "Just kiss me, okay? My sister is going to come in soon and mmfff—"

Ruby took the plunge and suddenly their lips were mashed together. It was sloppy and rushed—the angle was all wrong and Weiss' nose was pressed hard into Ruby's cheek. Gently, she pulled Ruby away just an inch before repositioning them and kissing her again more tenderly.

This one seemed to do the trick because Ruby gasped into her mouth and Weiss couldn't help but smirk. Weiss' hands moved up Ruby's neck and into her hair, drawing out a delightful and appreciative sound from the back of Ruby's throat.

However, when Weiss took a chance and her tongue trace across Ruby's bottom lip, she drew back with wide eyes. "Whoa." Ruby said as she panted for breath.

Weiss' hands were still in her hair but she offered a guilty look. "Too much?"

"A little…it just surprised me is all and I probably have really bad breath to be doing any tongue kisses."

Taking a breath, Weiss settled down and pulled Ruby in again—this time just to rest their foreheads together. "We don't have to do that right now then. Besides, my sister will be here in two minutes."

"How do you know?"

"It's almost seven in the morning, Winter never lets her day start after seven."

Ruby gave a small nod in understanding, but still seemed to be lost in the previous minute instead of focusing on the next two.

Leaning in, Weiss pecked her on the lips again and this seemed to catch her attention.

"Dunce," Weiss said affectionately.

The smile Ruby gave her was all the confirmation she needed. This was what she wanted, Ruby was what she wanted—and Schnee's always got what they wanted.

"Hi."

"Ruby Rose, would you like to go on a date with me?"

Once again those brows furrowed in confusion. "Uh…I don't think we'll have time for dates. Not with so much going on and—"

"We'll count last night…right now, as our first date. So long as you agree, of course."

"Is that allowed?"

Weiss glanced at the clock. "One-minute left, and yes because I'm making the rules and I say it's allowed."

One of Ruby's eyebrows raised. "Oh you're making the rules?"

"Naturally."

"I'm the team leader." Ruby said confidently and Weiss took that as an immediately challenge.

"Hmm…perhaps you're right. Relationships between teammates can be tricky. I certainly wouldn't want to corrupt your authority and—"

"Can I kiss you?" Ruby interrupted and Weiss smiled.

"Is this a date?" She was answered with a vigorous nod. "You've got thirty seconds."

This time Ruby didn't ask anymore questions. The moment their lips met again, Winter was knocking on the door.

This chapter was supposed to progress the plot a little more, but I got a bit lost in the White Rose